| Surname: | Kemp |
| Initials: | J F |
| Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Army Number: | P/2562 |
| Notes: | MMP. Awarded the Victory and War Medals. First served abroad (1) France, 14/2/16. Extract from the Thanet Advertiser 28 December 1945. LAST OF THE OLD SCHOOL. RAMSGATE POLICE RETIREMENTS. With the retirement on Monday of four of Ramsgate's police officers, the old borough force that we knew in the days just after World War I will die out. The four popular members of the force - now the Ramsgate Division of the Kent County Constabulary - who will make their last reports after over a quarter of a century of public service are P/S Frederick Thomas Rogers, of 81 Crescent Road; P/S William Arthur Buddle, of 21 Nethercourt Gardens; D/C Albert Foster, of Nairobi, Dane Crescent; and P.C. John Frederick Kemp, of 410 Margate Road. The public generally will wish these "last survivors" of the old school a long and happy retirement, which they wall deserve. P.C. Kemp. P.C. Kemp entered the grocery trade after attending Holy Trinity School and went to London, but he returned to Ramsgate for health reasons and joined the police force in 1914 as a temporary constable. He recalls that when he entered the Military Mounted Police in 1914 other members of the force who went into the services at the same time included P.C. Bertwood, D.C Bernard Baldwin, P.C harry Stead, and Chief Clerk Fred Pritchard who is now Chief Constable of Dewsbury. With the 21st Division P.C. Kemp served in France and Belgium and he came back to the police force after demoilization in 1919. One of his three commendations was for the smart capture in 1920 of a man who had broken into the Royal Victoria, Pavilion in the early hours of the morning. P.C. Kemp discovered him sorting out his spoils on the sands, chased him along the seafront and brought him to the police station after a struggle. The second commendation was for the rescue of a man who was overcome by fumes in the sewer at the Derby Arms and the third in more recent times was from Sir Percy Stillitoe, Chief Constable of Kent. P.C. Kemp is remembered for his smart appearance as a mounted policeman. he and Sgt Fred Wale always rode their horses at the head of the procession on Mayor's Sunday and other special occasions. (Article has a picture of Mr Kemp in civilian clothes.) |